Hey, Beautiful
by TaintedRain
Summary: He ruined my dream. He kissed me when he knew how important it was for me to get my first kiss the day I got married. He was a jerk, an asshole, a conceited heartbreaker. So why did I love him?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, everyone! I'm back (: With a story that I'd posted a while ago. Mwaha.**

**So. As a precautionary, I have a couple of things to say:**

**• ****People used to tell me that apparently this story had a writing style like someone else and I should get my own? Sorry. Never really read the stuff of the person they were talking about. Maybe once like two years ago. So. My writing style is mine, sorry if you think otherwise. I don't intend to copy someone else's writing style. Sheesh.**

**• This story is also on Wattpad, WritersCafe and other accounts. It's an original by _me_. So if I leave any original character names like Sean, Cassidy, or Mira, I'm sorry. Just kindly let me know, and I'll fix it when I have time.**

**That being said, enjoy! (:**

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Pieces of crumpled paper littered the bench around me making it look like a nor'easter had flown in from Antarctica.

It seemed that I wasn't going to be able to jot one useful thing down today. Too many thoughts cluttered my mind, none of which helping to conjure a single idea. You'd think that a cluttered brain would _help _think of a story of some sort, but no. I was stuck here buried in a pile of failed attempts to create something new.

I sighed, grabbing some wads of paper from beside me and setting them into the trashcan next to the bench. I probably should have aimed for the trashcan the first time, but when I was aggravated I tended to crumble the sheets into balls and slam them beside me. I could never understand _why _I did this, but I did.

Glowering, I began to recite what had happened just twenty minutes before.

"_For the millionth time, I will not, nor will I ever, join the kissing booth for the carnival!"_

_ Sumire glared at me, placing her hands on her delicate hips. For weeks she'd been nagging me to sign up with her so that she wouldn't be alone. No matter how many times I refused, she kept coming back. She knew that I planned to have my first kiss in front of an altar, but still, she begged. "Why not?" she whined._

_ "Um, does the 'I'm going to have my first kiss when I get married' thing not ring a bell to you?" I asked, shifting my bag on my shoulder._

_ We walked down the path, away from the building our seminar had been held in. Silence was mandatory in the seminars, but when Sumire and I both had one together, silence was the last thing on our minds. We spoke in hushed voices through the whole thing, barely taking in what the speaker was saying. The most we noticed about the professional standing on stage was his beard and thick eyebrows. "Damn, he needs to pluck those things!" Sumire had whispered._

_ "And does the, 'That's never gonna happen' thing not ring a bell?" Sumire rolled her eyes. "You're in college, Mikan. Everyone gets kissed in college!"_

_ I rolled my eyes. "I'm still not joining the kissing booth."_

_ Sumire groaned, bringing a hand through her forest green hair. It was pulled into a messy bun today, though it didn't _look _messy. She managed to pull the look off very well with her tank top, shorts, and flip flops. "You're so stubborn!"_

_ "And proud," I said, smiling brightly at her. _

_ We continued down the path silently for a few moments. My eyes flicked around the grounds, my gaze devouring everything in sight. A group of boys were playing football, chuckling and guffawing as they tackled each other into the grass. What kind of story idea could I get from men playing football? I struggled to think of something, but failed._

_ "Drama!" Sumire called out suddenly, flicking her wrist to the right._

_ My gaze turned to where Sumire had been pointing. I bit my lip, narrowing my eyes as I saw a short, blond girl chasing after a boy. It wasn't just any boy. It was the boy that everyone seemed to be talking about these days. Whether it was, "OMG he's so hot!" or "Boo-hooey he brokey my hearty!" There was always something going on with this guy._

_ "Natsume is breakin' another heart I see." Sumire giggled giddily. "Gosh I love drama!"_

_ I scowled as the girl finally gave up, turning in the other direction, weeping uncontrollably. It sickened me to my core that Natsume could just dump people like that . . . and so casually too. I'd seen him laugh and say, "Honey, you're not cute enough for me. Go date someone ugly."_

_ Talk about rude!_

_ "I give it an hour tops before he has another girl." Sumire nodded to herself. "Yeah. An hour."_

_ I shrugged, rolling my eyes. I watched as Natsume strutted toward the dormitories, bringing a hand dramatically through his raven black hair. Girls would actually kill to watch him do that. It apparently made his muscles flex sexily. Yeah, okay._

_ "I wonder what he's going to do when he runs out of girls," Sumire mused, a smile planted on her face. _

_ "He's probably going to go gay," I said, fixing my bag's strap. "I bet the gay guys would really appreciate that."_

_ Sumire snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, and I bet girls are going to be flocking to the kissing booth to volunteer. Everyone knows that Natsume goes there to check out the good kissers."_

_ "Another reason not to join."_

_ Sumire scowled, shaking her head. "I don't know why I even bother with you anymore."_

_ I shrugged. "I don't really know why either. I mean, I've only told you a gazillion of times."_

_ Sumire was about to snap some snarky reply to me, but Rianne, one of the heads of the carnival, came rushing over to us, her huge blue eyes wide and her blond hair windswept. She was wearing a similar outfit as Sumire except her tank top was striped instead of plain and her flip-flops were black instead of blue. "Sumire!" she squeaked out. "There's a big problem at the kissing booth. We need you, pronto."_

_ Sumire sent me a look that said, "This isn't over," and then hurried off with Rianne. I watched as they sped-walked, glad that I didn't have to deal with the stress of creating a carnival. The carnival wasn't the school board's idea. The students did everything: they bought everything, set everything up. I was surprised that the carnival ended up as big as it did. Maybe it was because they made you pay for everything._

_ I shook my head, retreating toward the benches in the park. Maybe I could finally get some words on paper there. Setting my bag beside me, I pulled out my notebook and stared off into the sky, willing for useful thoughts to come to me._

I leaned back, pretty proud of my work. Sure, I wouldn't be allowed to pass this in for a grade, but at least I'd written _something._ I stood up, hoisting my bag over my shoulder, deciding that that would be enough for today. The report wasn't due until Friday, and it was Tuesday. I would be able to finish it by then. Hopefully.

My notebook in my hand, I turned to leave . . .

. . . .and collided with someone.

My notebook was ripped from my grasp as I toppled to the ground, a small scream escaping my lips. My hands connected with gravel, pain instantly shooting up my arm. I seethed, grinding my teeth together. After blinking hard, I sat up, picking small rocks off of my palm. "What the—?"

I looked up, searching for whatever force had sent me flying. My eyes locked onto a boy bent over, his hood covering his head. I bit my lip to keep from yelling at him as he picked up my notebook. I gasped as my eyes locked on the coffee stains covering the beautiful pages. All of my stories within there were now destroyed. There were no other copies, and I probably wasn't going to be able to read it again.

I glared, knowing that it was this boy's fault that coffee was now dripping off of my notebook. I glanced at the ground, finding a fallen Dunkin Donuts cup. I wanted to kick it, but I didn't. Instead, I stood up, wiping my hands on my pants.

"Excuse me," I said sternly, holding my hand out. "That's mine."

The boy held up his pointer finger, his eyes trained on the paper. All I could of him see was his dark hair falling into his face and his muscular build showing through his gray sweatshirt. I crossed my arms over my chest, annoyed. Who said that he could come over, make me fall, cover my precious with coffee, and then _read _my stuff? I sure didn't.

"Um, can I have my notebook back?" I snapped.

I could have just snatched the notebook away from him, but I didn't want to chance it getting _ripped _as well. If this guy could find it legible, then maybe I could copy it into a different notebook. But, in order to do that, I'd need my writing back!

"Seriously—"

The boy looked up and I stifled a gasp. Natsume Hyuuga smirked, his crimson eyes blazing. He held up my notebook and slapped it into my still awaiting hand. Then he bent down, scooping his now empty Styrofoam cup from the ground and chucking it into the trashcan.

"You didn't read this, did you?" I demanded stupidly, holding up my notebook for emphasis.

Natsume's smirk grew, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You mean about me dumping a blond and going gay when I run out of girls?"

"Yeah."

"No, I didn't."

I glared, flicking some stray strands of my brunette hair behind my head. He was being a smart-ass, and I didn't appreciate it. "Good," I sniffed, turning to leave. "And by the way, next time you bang into someone, _apologize._"

"Hey, what's your name?" Natsume called, ignoring my comment, sauntering after me. I shook my head, refusing to answer. "What? I'm not allowed to know?"

"Exactly!" I exclaimed over my shoulder.

My hate for Natsume only grew then. We hadn't been talking for two minutes and he was already pissing me off. Though, he didn't really have to speak with me to piss me off. I got angry just by looking at him. People like him deserved to die a painful death: alone with a ton of cats and young children trespassing onto their lawn no matter how many times they threatened them with their cane.

"Fine, I'll just ask Sumire. I'm sure that she'll agree to tell me as long as I agree to convince you to join the kissing booth."

I spun around, stifling another gasp when I whacked Natsume's chest. How he had been that close to me without me noticing, I will never know. It set me on edge to be honest. "Holy crap!" I hissed, stepping backwards. "Did anyone ever teach you about personal space?"

Natsume closed the distance between us again, grinning seductively. I rolled my eyes, spinning around and scurrying off again. "And you don't even know what Sumire looks like!" I called, tempted to flip him off. "So, good luck with that."

"I'll just look for the girl dressed like Rianne. Because, you know, I dated Rianne once."

I froze, my foot an inch from the ground. I could have accused him of lying, but I remembered Sumire complaining that Rianne wouldn't stop crying because Natsume dumped her over a text. Such a cold-hearted way to go. I turned slowly, placing my hands on my hips. "You're insufferable, you know that?" I hissed, shaking my head. "My name's Mikan. Now go away!"

Natsume grinned. "I'll go when I want to."

I scoffed, shaking my notebook angrily. "You're so lucky that this wasn't completely destroyed. Otherwise, I'd have to kill you."

I stalked off, mentally flipping him off as I did. He was even more infuriating in person. Cocky, stuck-up. I assigned theme songs for him in my head. _Everybody Loves Me _by OneRepublic came to mind, along with _I'm Sexy and I Know It. _Both annoying songs about narcissistic people. That was the main reason that I hated those songs so much. They reminded me of the people I despised.

I was about to step onto the grass, but I was spun around. Before I could even register what was going on, my lips were pressed against someone else's. My eyes widened, my hands flying up in shock. My notebook fell to the ground and my bag's strap dug into my shoulder. _What the hell?_

I pulled away, slapping a hand to my mouth. Natsume stood there, smirking at me. I bit my lip, feeling as though I was going to cry. My dream, my one single dream that meant as much to me as writing did, had just been plunged down the toilet because of this arrogant asshole! I was about ready to slap him, but Natsume turned to leave.

"You should join the kissing booth," he said simply.

And then he was gone, disappearing down the pathway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, everyone! I actually updated. Yaaaaaaay. ;D In answer to questions, Yes, this was posted before! I'm not plagarising in any way. This is my work from another site I posted with original characters. If you see a story on here that's the same, tell me right away ._. **

**Anywho.**

**Unknown Pain, I UPDATED. THERE YOU GOOOO. ;D**

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I yawned, dumping practically all the coffee creamer available into my hot chocolate. The booth I was sitting in was incredibly uncomfortable. Every time I lifted my legs, they stuck to the leather, making it painful to break contact. I barely noticed the pain, however. I was too tired to really care. Sumire woke me up at seven o'clock just to drag me to a small café not too far off campus. Why she felt the need to do this I had no idea. But I didn't question her. I'd learned a long time ago not to question her methods.

It'd been a short week since the dreaded kiss occurred. I was still pissed beyond belief. Every time someone even mentioned Natsume, I felt like punching a wall. He'd ripped my dream out of my reach. There was no taking it back, no undoing what had been done. And the worst part? He probably didn't even care.

Wait, did I say probably? Scratch that. He definitely didn't care.

"Mikan, are you even listening to me?" Sumire demanded, snatching me away from my tormented thoughts.

I glanced at her, biting my lip. The truth was I'd stopped listening to her ten minutes ago, her words collaging into something undecipherable. There were clips about someone named Ricardo and a snake named Abraham. Or maybe the person was Abraham and the snake was Ricardo. Or maybe it wasn't even a snake at all. Maybe—

"Mikan!"

I blinked. "Sorry," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. "I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, well, who can you really blame for that?" Sumire asked, not at all sympathetic. "You're the one who stayed up till midnight scrambling to finish recopying your writing into a new notebook."

I leaned back against the booth glancing out the window. In an attempt to mend what had been destroyed, I'd driven to Central Town and bought a new notebook the day before. I would have done it earlier, but there was too much work to be done. All work that I'd hoped to accomplish within the beautiful pages of my beloved, but no. Natsume Hyuuga had to come and ruin that too.

"You're doing it again."

I looked away from the window, shooting my friend a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"You're staring out in the distance dramatically, wondering why on earth Natsume had to go and ruin your hopes and dreams. Though, that affect is completely destroyed by the fact that the only thing in your view is a littered street with crazy-ass drivers."

I cocked an eyebrow. "How sympathetic of you."

Sumire shrugged and sighed deeply, sipping at her latte. "I'm sorry the sexiest guy on campus decided to lock lips with you, and you didn't like it." She smiled mischievously. "I mean, those soft lips pressing against yours is an utterly horrible sensation, isn't it?"

I scowled as the memory of the kiss inevitably flashed. It wasn't something I wanted to think about, but Sumire liked to make it impossible. Sure, she'd wanted to pound his head in at first, pissed that he'd made me cry. (Yeah, I cried. Can you really blame me? I was upset.) But then she started getting amused by the situation. Such a great friend. "Would you quit that?" I snapped, tempted to slap her arm.

"Stop what?" Sumire batted her eyelashes innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

My scowl turned into a glower. "Come on, Sumire, seriously."

Sumire sighed exasperatedly. "Come on, Mikan! The kiss couldn't have been that bad." When she saw my gaze darken, she amended her sentence. "I mean . . . how horrible was it? Sure, you hate the guy, but did it really feel bad?"

I scoffed, stirring the coffee creamer into my hot chocolate. "I didn't really get past the, 'Holy shit my life dream is ruined!' thing yet. Ask me again after I die."

Sumire was about to say something else, but the bell to the front door of the café chimed. I glanced up, cursing under my breath when I saw who it was. As though by instinct, I slid down my seat, plopping onto the dirty, tiled floor. I crossed my arms over my legs, closing my eyes tightly. Please let Sumire go along, please let Sumire go along, please let Sumire go along!

"Mikan, what the hell are you doing?"

I just couldn't get a break, could I? "Shh!" I hissed, slapping her thigh in irritation. "I'm trying to hide, thank you."

"Why?" I winced as she shifted her body, succeeding in stepping on my fingers. Idiot friend of mine! "Oh, I see."

I slapped her thigh again, receiving a kick in the leg in return. I groaned softly, biting my lip. Did she really have to kick so hard? "Don't say anything—"

"Oh, hey, Natsume!" Sumire called, obviously just to piss me off. Sumire wasn't one to outright yell to Natsume like they were buddy-buddy. Sure, they talked once and a while because of the kissing booth, but other than that? Nothing.

I was tempted to lean forward and bite her, but I resisted the urge. That would only bring me more pain. Whether it was physical or not, it didn't really matter. Either way it would bite me in the ass. "Come on, Sumire, seriously?" I snapped.

A moment later a pair of feet appeared at the edge of the booth. I glared at Natsume's Nikes in disgust. Why must he ruin my life in every way possible? My scowl only deepened as Natsume crouched down, his face appearing underneath the booth. When he saw me curled up in an uncomfortable ball, a smirk curled on his lips. "We meet again, Mikan."

I rolled my eyes, letting my hands fall to the floor. With more difficulty than I would have thought, I removed myself from under the booth, seating myself as gracefully as I could manage back into my seat. I cocked an eyebrow, allowing my disgust to show freely as I regarded Natsume from across the table. "What are you doing here?"

Natsume's smirk grew as he held up a cup of coffee. "Buying a cup of coffee. What are you doing here?" He held up a single, slender flinger. "Wait, let me guess. You're playing hide and seek with your imaginary friends, right?"

The temptation to lean forward and shove his coffee so that it splattered onto his face was almost impossible to ignore. "Do us all a favor and go screw around with some random chick on campus." I waved him away in irritation. "I bet you'd be more welcome there."

Without even waiting for consent, Natsume settled beside me in the booth. I scooted in irritably, shoving myself as far into the wall as I could. If only I could magically teleport to another place other than here. But, alas, science wasn't that advanced yet. If I found interest in the subject, maybe I would major in that. Too bad I was more interested in the Arts.

"Too bad there's no girl I feel like 'screwing around' with," Natsume drawled, making quotation marks with his fingers as he said "screwing around."

I scoffed, taking a huge gulp of my hot chocolate. I resisted the urge to spit it out. Too much coffee creamer. "Really?" I said, masking the horrible taste in my mouth as distaste for him. "Since when?"

Sumire watched Natsume and I continue to argue with amused eyes. I didn't understand what she found to be so funny. Natsume was the most disgusting being to have walked on this planet. I felt bad for his parents. They had to deal with this monster all through his childhood. I wondered if he was always this way. Had he always womanized or did he used to be as innocent as could be?

"You have the last name of a man."

I scoffed, throwing my hands into the air. "That's the most you can come up with? You're more pathetic than I thought." I stood up, fixing my hair furiously. Sumire and Natsume stared up at me silently. Sumire with a small smile curled on her lips, showing off her amusement, Natsume with that ridiculous smirk of his. "Now, if you two would excuse me, I have a paper to write."

I shoved Natsume mercilessly out of the way, huffing as I clutched my hot chocolate and stormed out of the café. I didn't understand why I kept the hot chocolate. I mean, it tasted like crap. I shrugged, not able to bring myself to throw it in the trash just yet.

I stopped in front of a crosswalk, slapping the button on the small machine on the phone pole beside me. I hopped from foot to foot, waiting for the little man on the small machine across the street to appear, signaling that I was able to walk across.

"Hey, Beautiful."

I jumped, cursing as Natsume spoke into my ear. "Dammit!" I hissed, spinning around. I reeled backward as I collided with Natsume's chest. Damn. How did he manage to get so close without me hearing him? "Again with the personal space issues!"

Natsume snickered, pointing ahead. "You're able to cross the road now, ma'am."

I rolled my eyes, turning and crossing the street without another word. Of course, the guy had to follow me, despite my futile hoping that he wouldn't. Natsume was the type of person that liked to push you until you snapped. And he was very good at it.

"Can you just leave me alone?" I shouted, stepping onto the curb of the sidewalk. I barely tossed Natsume a glance as I continued on. He was there, trotting superiorly beside me. How girls dug this guy, I would never know. The only thing I would ever dig for this guy was his grave.

"Nope!"

I could just feel that superior smile on his face. It only made my scowl deepen. "Must you be so insufferable all the time?" I gripped my hot chocolate tightly. If he pushed me too hard the liquid was going to magically fly into his face. "Go hang out with your equally as insufferable friends! Just leave me the hell alone."

Natsume guffawed. "I assure you, my friends could never be as insufferable as I am."

So sad how he sounded proud of that.

I was about to snap at retort, but my phone rang. My eyebrows knitted in concern when I saw that it was my brother, Youichi. He was younger than me, an eighteen-year-old and a senior in high school. He lived alone with my aunt—though, she was barely ever there. I felt guilty for leaving him after what had happened, but he'd informed me that if I didn't go on to college like my parents would have wanted, he would personally see to it that my life would be forever more utter hell.

"Youichi?" I murmured after bringing the phone to my ear. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Youichi chuckled softly. Then he sighed, and I could hear the sadness in his voice. "You know, it's almost that time."

"That time." That was how we referred to the day our parents died as. I bit my lip, my eyes trained on the sidewalk. I was surprised to see Natsume's Nikes there. I'd forgotten he was there. "I know." I sighed deeply. "I'll be there. Do you need me to come home early?"

"No." Youichi's voice came out sharp, more sharply than he had intended I was sure. Youichi always got this way when I talked about leaving school in any shape or form. It was the protective side of him coming out into the open. "I'll be fine. Aunt Cara has been good I guess."

I smiled slightly. "All right. I'll see you soon?"

"Yep."

"Bye, Youichi."

"Bye."

I hung up, silently pocketing my phone. I tried not to think of the fact that I'd talked about probably the most personal thing ever in front of the person I despised. My throat caught as I thought of my parents. They died three years ago. Not a day went by when I didn't miss them. I missed them so damn much.

"That your brother?" Natsume asked after a long period of silence.

"Yeah."

"He as annoying as you?"

Ah, there it was. He couldn't go two minutes without trying to annoy the hell out of me, could he? "If I'm so annoying, why don't you go away?"

Natsume smiled thinly. "So, tell me," he drawled, "which parent do you inherit such lovely traits from?"

A rush of anger flowed. Just he mentioning my parents made me want to punch him. Such innocent people should not be spoken of with such a vulgar mouth. "Stop it," I spat venomously. "Just stop it."

"Ah, don't want to tell me, huh?" Natsume continued as though I hadn't spoken. "Well—"

Before I could even register what I was doing, I threw the cover of my hot chocolate off and thrust my hand forward, splashing the liquid all over him. Natsume stopped walking, looking over himself in a stunned silence. I was too pissed to care. How dare he? _How dare he?_ "Don't you ever speak about my parents that way again," I spat darkly, my voice nearing a scream.

Despite my hate for littering, I threw my hot chocolate cup on the ground, stomping away from him.

And, for the first time, Natsume didn't follow.

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**Okay, so I couldn't think of anyone for Aunt Cara. So she'll stay her original character unless any of you can think of someone who'd fit :P**

**Sigh. Hopefully I'll update quicker next tiiime.**

**Omg. I feel like I was going to say something else ._. oh well.**


	3. Chapter 3

**-cough- Hey guys!**

**So, um, I know it's been a really, really, really, really **_**really **_**long time. Ugh. I thought I was going to do good an upload faster this time, too! Sigh. I had complications on character choosing. You'd think I'd be a genius and choose them beforehand, but nawh.**

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I stared at my computer screen blankly. No words were coming out, no ideas spurring. The only thing on my mind was what had happened earlier. I scowled, slamming my computer shut and falling back on my bed. I glowered up at the ceiling. Why? Why did he have to piss me off so much?

And why the hell did I feel terrible about dumping my hot chocolate all over him?

I shouldn't have felt bad. That was what I kept trying to convince myself. He bad-mouthed my parents, he bad-mouthed Yoichi. He _deserved _what I did to him. But, no matter how many times these thoughts ran through my mind, I still kicked myself for doing what I did. And plus I littered. _So _not good.

I covered my face with my hands, groaning loudly. I _really _didn't want to apologize to him. The thought was _not_ enticing at all. But, sadly, it felt like the right thing to do. And I, Mikan Sakura, was always taught to do what I felt was right. Which, I'm not gonna lie, sometimes really sucked.

With a deep sigh I stood up, shoving my feet into my shoes. I grumbled under my breath as I threw open my dorm room's door and stepped outside. My roommate, Anna Umenomiya, was right outside the door, her eyes wide. "Oh, Mikan!" she exclaimed, letting her hand that was held up to open the door fall. "You scared me."

"Sorry." I smiled thinly. "I'll see you in a few."

Anna nodded, looking thoroughly disgruntled as she allowed me to pass before stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. Anna was someone who worried easily. Not that I minded. I worried easily too. Us together doing something very stressful would _not _be a good combo.

It wasn't long before I was outside, the sun piercing my eyes. I peered around, searching for Natsume. I would just give a quick, "Sorry. I was pissed at you. I still am, but I feel kind of bad for dumping my drink on you. Sorry again. Now get out of my life." Okay, maybe I would make it a little nicer, but I wouldn't count on it. My usually nice manners turned sour the instant Natsume came into view.

I spent a good fifteen minutes later before allowing myself to collapse onto the grass of the campus park. I closed my eyes, shaking my head mentally. Any other time he would have been everywhere, but when I actually wanted to _find _him, he was nowhere to be seen. Ha. Maybe he was changing his shirt.

I screeched, opening my eyes as something pressed onto my stomach. I sat up, glancing to the side. Natsume stood there, smirking. He was all clean now, though you could tell that his hair was slightly wet. "What the hell, Natsume?" I muttered, standing up and rubbing my shirt to get his foot mark off.

"Oops, did I do that?" Natsume mocked an appalled expression. "I'm sorry, my foot slipped."

I glowered, deciding that attempting to get the stain out was pointless. On the bright side I didn't like this shirt anyway. Sumire bought it for me as a joke and demanded that I wear it once and a while. Now I had an excuse to trash it. "And here I was about to apologize to you for dumping my hot chocolate on you. Now I don't feel sorry at all."

I sniffed indignantly, resisting the temptation to kick him in the shin as I stalked away. Here I was trying to do the right thing and it bit me in the ass. Note to self: never try to do the right thing when it came to Natsume Hyuuga. It wouldn't work.

"Oh, you were about to apologize were you?" Natsume sounded genuinely surprised as he easily caught up with me, matching my pace. "Why does that seem highly unlikely?"

"Because you're a prick who doesn't deserve an apology," I said bluntly. I shook my head, sighing. "But, sadly, when I was in my room I thought it would be the right thing to do to apologize." I glared at him. "Not happening ever again."

Natsume scoffed. "Daydreaming about me, are you?" He wriggled his eyebrows.

I punched his shoulder. The point of this was to hurt _him,_ but it ended up being the other way around. As I clutched my injured hand, glaring at Natsume's unfazed face, I couldn't help but wonder what the hell was wrong with him. He must have been a perverted robot. "Must you twist _everything _I say?" I snapped.

Before Natsume could answer my phone began to vibrate within my butt pocket. I groaned inwardly as I brought the phone to my ear, hoping that Youichi wasn't going to talk about our parents again. I really didn't need to get into another huge fight with Natsume where someone ended up covered in a liquid of some sort. Then again, the way _this _argument was escalating, I wouldn't be surprised if we reached that level.

"Hey, You," I mumbled. "This isn't really a good—"

"Mikan, you need to come home now," Youichi breathed, sounding frantic.

I froze. Natsume stopped walking as well, eyeing me. I couldn't tell if he was amused or worried. What can I say? Natsume's face was hard to read. Maybe it was because there wasn't usually anything else than the expression that said, "Hey, I'm sexy and you can't do anything about it but stare at me. Bask in my beauty!"

"What's wrong?" I demanded, placing my free hand on my hip. "What's happened?"

"Someone broke into the house and Aunt Cara is in the hospital. She put up a fight and ended up falling down the stairs and breaking her leg."

"Holy shit!" I shrieked, almost dropping my phone. "I'm on my way."

I shut my phone, side-glancing Natsume. "This conversation has been _lovely,_ _really, _but I have to get home to my family."

Without another word I turned and ran, dodging students as I hurried to the parking lot. It was a two hour drive to home, but if I drove as fast as I could then maybe I could be home in an hour, hour and a half. I bit my lip. I just couldn't believe that someone actually broke into my aunt's house. It just seemed so surreal.

I reached my car and threw open the door. I slammed myself into the driver's seat, pushing my bangs out of my face. With a deep sigh I shoved the key into the ignition. I turned it, ready to hear the car start.

Only, it didn't.

"Dammit!" I shrieked, twisting the key in the ignition repetitively, each time growing more impatient, more irritated. The only sound that was coming from the car was the sickening sound of it attempting to start but failing. "Come on, not now!"

I jumped, giving a small scream as someone tapped on my window. I sighed and then glared when I saw that it was Natsume. He just couldn't leave me alone, could he? With an angry growl, I unbuckled my seat and stepping out of my car. "_What?_" I spat, angry and panicked tears pricking at the edge of my eyes. Aunt Cara was hurt and in the hospital, and Youichi was at home where insane robbers and broken in. Who knew if they weren't going to come back?

Natsume looked up at the sky for a moment, grumbling something undecipherable under his breath. Then he looked at me and I could see the disbelief in his eyes. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he drawled, shoving his hands into his sweatshirt and pulling out a pair of car keys, "but I'm here to offer you a ride."

I stared at him, shocked. "Seriously?" I sputtered out. "_You _are offering _me _a _ride_?"

Natsume rolled his eyes, grabbing my arm and dragging me through the parking lot. I cried out, struggling against him. But Natsume only gripped my arm harder. "I'm trying to do you a favor here, and this is how you treat me?"

I grumbled under my breath, immediately stopping any resisting that I was partaking in. "Sorry," I mumbled. "Now can you _please _let me go? I have the ability to walk by myself."

Natsume immediately complied, wiping his hand on his jeans as though he'd just touched something disgusting. I took offense to that, but decided not to voice it. It would only make him think that I cared about what he thought. Which I didn't.

"Where's your car anyway?" I inquired, shoving my hands into my jean pockets.

Natsume answered by stopping in front of the most expensive-looking car in the parking lot. I should have known. Of _course _he would be the owner of the shiniest, sleekest vehicle. He just couldn't let someone else be the best could he?

"Of course," I mumbled as Natsume unlocked the doors with his automatic locker and slipping into the driver's seat. I hesitated self-consciously before following pursuit, settling uncomfortably into the passenger seat.

It was silent as Natsume started the car and pulled out of his parking space. Though, as we came to the opening of the parking lot, Natsume glanced at me, gesturing with his eyes for me to tell him which way he was supposed to go. "Go right and then onto the highway," I said softly, pushing myself as far into the door as I could. It was so suffocating in this tiny car.

"Where are we going?" Natsume asked in probably the most polite tone that'd he'd ever directed in my direction.

"To Portland and then to my Aunt's house."

Natsume regarded me curiously. "Why?"

I sighed deeply, tempted to create a cover story. But I quickly decided against it. He would only find out that I was lying when we got there and Youichi was flipping out. Why create an unneeded argument later? "Someone broke into my aunt's house, and she's in the hospital."

Natsume cocked an eyebrow. "How unfortunate."

I scoffed, deciding not to snap at him for using sarcasm when talking about my aunt. I didn't really expect anything else, anyway. "Yeah."

After a long time of silence, Natsume turned on the radio. I was surprised to see what it wasn't that pop crap that everyone listened to these days. It was a rock station, a station that I listened to faithfully. "Wow," I said, my eyebrows rising as I regarded him, "Natsume Hyuuga, the most idiotic guy in the world has good taste in music?"

Natsume didn't even look at me. I watched silently as he detached one of his hands from the wheel and turned it toward me, the palm facing him. My eyes widened slightly when he lifted his middle finger before returning his hand back to its spot on the wheel.

"Asshole," I muttered, shaking my head. "Was that really necessary?"

"Most definitely."

I grumbled under my breath before singing along to the music. I didn't care that Natsume was there, probably judging me lack of singing inclination. So what if I wasn't American Idol material? I didn't care. All that mattered was that the music was blasting and that the windows were down.

"You know," Natsume drawled, rolling the window I'd just rolled down up, "the singer sings the songs so you don't have to."

I crossed my arms over my chest indignantly. "What was that for?" I exclaimed, about ready to slap him. He'd just ruined a perfectly good atmosphere.

"I don't like the windows open," Natsume said simply, his tone final. I tilted my head to the side. His eyes seemed to darken, his fingers gripping the wheel so tightly that they were turning white. Obviously, no questions on the topic would be welcome.

"Whatever," I muttered, kicking my feet up onto the dashboard. I expected Natsume to yell at me because I was ruining his precious car, but he didn't even blink.

An awkward silence enveloped. I hummed along to the music, trying to block out Natsume's angry expression. Wow, this guy really knew how to throw a temper tantrum. I didn't understand what his problem was. All I'd done was open the window. It was closed now, he could get over it.

"Natsume, stop sulking," I demanded after fifteen minutes of silence. "It's unattractive."

Natsume glanced at me and smirked. "You think I'm attractive when I'm not sulking then?"

Never mind. He could go sulk and die in a corner now. "Of course not!" I hissed. "Damn, could your ego get any bigger?"

Natsume wriggled his eyebrows before turning back to face the road. "You'd be surprised."

I refused to dignify that comment with a reply, so I leaned back in my seat, closing my eyes. I was tempted to call Youichi, to see how he was holding up. I didn't like that he was home alone. Sure, he was a strong guy, but what if there were _multiple _robbers?

Though, I didn't have to call Youichi because he called me.

"Youichi, hey," I breathed out in relief. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where are you?"

"I'm on my way." I glanced at Natsume, sighing. "I got a ride from a—a friend because my car decided not to start."

I hated referring to Natsume as a friend, but that was the only way that Youichi wouldn't flip out. Youichi tended to do that.

"Oh, is it Sumire?"

"No." I looked up at the roof of the car. "It's no one you know."

"Ah." Youichi sighed. "Well, just get here so that I can get to the hospital. I don't have a car. They stole it."

"They _stole _the car?"

I was aghast. How did they manage to break into the house, injure my aunt, steal stuff in the house, and then steal the car without getting caught? The nerve of some people.

"Yeah." Youichi sighed again. "I'll see you in a bit."

I shut my phone, groaning. What was the house going to look like when I got there? Was it going to be vacant? That's what I was beginning to imagine. I mean, if they stole that _car_, they could have stolen anything.

"I don't recall us establishing a friendship," Natsume said suddenly, ripping me from my reverie.

"Trust me," I replied, glancing at him from the corner of my eye, "we're _not _friends."

The tips of Natsume's lips tilted up. "Good. I don't wanna be friends with a horrible kisser like you."

I glared, smacking his arm as hard as I could. "Damn you," I snapped. "I'm still pissed at you for doing that, you know."

Natsume shrugged. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but—"

He cut off as the engine began to make a strange noise, and the car's speed began to slow. Natsume cursed, pulling over to the side of the road. We didn't come to a stop until a few feet later. I turned to him slowly, a scowl at the ready. "What the hell just happened?"

Natsume let out a string of curses, slamming his hands into the steering wheel. I waited silently for him to finish, not knowing whether to be nervous by his outrage or amused. After a while his curses subsided, and he turned to look at me, his eyes like fire. "We're out of gas."

Oh, _great._

* * *

**I was going to use Hotaru as the roommate, and it would have made sense, but there are things about her that just don't fit Hotaru's attitude o.o not in my opinion, anyway. There are things about her that don't fit Anna, but honestly she's closer to Anna than Hotaru. SIGH. **

**Again, sorry for the late update guys! If you guys get tired of waiting, I suggest going onto Wattpad and looking it up. Yeah, it's the original characters, but it has a lot more of the plot up xD**


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